Coffee Break - Dancing Goats Espresso Bar

Boy, do I love coffee. I am no coffee aficionado, but having sipped espresso in Rome, Cafe Creme in Paris, and Cafe Melange in Vienna, I have had my fair share of great coffee. However, living in the good old U.S. of A., I have also had my share of bad cups o' Joe. Coffee culture in America is not what it is in many other parts of the world. Starbucks has sterilized and attempted to monopolize the coffee industry in the U.S., taking on the strategy of colonizing our neighborhoods with as many stores as possible. Having said that, there are still bastions of great coffee to be found here on the home front. Dancing Goats Espresso Bar is a great example of this trend toward better coffee for Americans.

Located just west of downtown Decatur on Ponce, Dancing Goats really has a great product to offer. Now it is my habit to make my first coffee in any new coffee shop an espresso. Since it's the base of so many other coffee house staples, I feel obliged to taste the coffee in it's purest form. The house espresso at Dancing Goats is full bodied with negligible acidity. The bitterness was what one would expect from an espresso without being overwhelming. In fact, it is the way that the bitterness plays with the full bodied flavor that I found to be the most compelling element of the coffee. In contrast, a standard espresso from Starbucks seems flat and barren, where the Dancing Goats espresso seemed full of life. Even with my first taste, it became apparent that the shop's name could not seem more apropos.

Although the coffee was excellent, I can not say the same about the atmosphere. Feeling very corporate, with little of the eclecticism that I have become accustomed to seeing in smaller coffee shops, I found Dancing Goats to feel more like a Starbucks that I would have hoped. Was the atmosphere bad? Not in the slightest. I just can't help feeling that such an exceptional coffee shouldn't come from such a unexceptional looking shop.

That leaves the question, "Will I go back?" The simple answer is "yes." No decor can keep me away from a great cup of coffee. I hope to see you there.